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Adventure Nine: War Pigs
We disguise ourselves as the crew of the Saint Argentia. As we approach the Seattle Armory, we are hailed on the radio, and Jack tells them that we are off our typical patrol schedule because we found a securitron. *We head toward the southern docking bay near the old Key Arena instead of the southern loading zone, which Jack bluffs away by saying that we think it’s better equipped to handle the weight of the securitron. *We set up a “It’s loose!” plan for P0P1 to activate and “go rogue” as we unload it and activate the Sneak Man to confuse pursuit, causing us all to scatter while we chase after it. *The guards call themselves “clavers.” Their uniforms seem to be designed to make them homogeneous, with dark visors covering their faces and faint vocal distortion from their helmets that makes their voices harder to differentiate. *Three people in slave collars come out to help unload: one person with a warthog head and full-body hair, one person with a frog-like throat pouch and eyes, one person who looks like a cross between a human woman and a doe. To varying degrees their bodies look like they do not function effectively or comfortably. The frog and deer look servile out of fear, while the warthog looks angry and on the verge of violence. The clavers refer to them as Moreaus. *As one of the clavers expresses suspicion, first Jack and then P0P1 intimidate him to take his attention away. Earl plays up his decrepitude and acts as if he’s Jack’s attendant, leading the claver to scoff that he seems like “a seraphim’s son.” *One claver introduces herself as Longfellow to Ruth, who cobbles together a bluff about being recently transferred from classified activity in the east as part of the war with Freehaven. *The suspicious claver continues to antagonize Jack, who triggers “It’s loose!” Murderbot murders the claver and runs off, leaving Longfellow shaken before Jack hits her with daze. The rest of us pretend to panic and break loose. *The former Seattle Children’s Theatre has lights on and heavy locks on the outside. P0P1 sees a figure in the window with an avian head and spooks it away. *The alert spreads across the facility, bringing out the population of 200-250 people. *We regroup at the former KEXP building, then sneak back to the docking bay. Vania snipes one of the remaining clavers, which the warthog Moreau notices. She distracts the last two clavers and helps us dispatch them. *We explain why we’re there, and the warthog Moreau says that she knows the armory building better than anyone. Ruth drains the power from the slave collars while P0P1 disables them long enough to remove, and once they’re off Jack uses mage hand to send them over the wall before they detonate. *The warthog Moreau introduces herself as Optat Aprum and the deer Moreau as Cervi. She directs the frog Moreau, Bufo, to escape through the water. Optat displays some energy manipulation ability that she only revealed when she could ensure that no clavers were looking. *Optat takes us to the Children’s Theatre, which is more secured to keep people in than out. The building has space to house two dozen Moreaus and is half full, with the other half out being used as trackers. Ruth and P0P1 completely disable the collars of the 15 Moreaus in the barracks so the explosive is disabled but they remain intact, so they can continue wearing them and appear to still be under control. *Optat shares that all the Moreaus gained consciousness in the bodies they have now and don’t remember being children. She has been conscious for about 30 years, but Bufo at the oldest has been conscious for 60 years. When the Moreau population loses about half a dozen, new Moreaus are brought in. They don’t know anything about how they are created. Optat is the only one with energy manipulation powers, and with Bufo’s help she has kept that ability hidden from the clavers.